An 'Islamised Australian way of life': developing an Islamic social capital framework

This paper discusses some preliminary findings of a larger ethnographic study which explores the role of Islamic faith in the creation and maintenance of social capital for first and second generation Muslim-Australian migrants. The paper reviews the literature on social capital before introducing the concept of 'Islamic social capital'. This will be followed by an overview of the methodology and study sample. Finally I present data that demonstrate how the participants' subjective understanding of the Islamic faith assists them in the development of social capital resources. The data presented in this paper shows that the participants actively contribute towards building 'Islamic social capital' through the pursuit of religious education outside of their local mosques. The data further suggest that the participants' understanding of Islamic values encouraged them to participate in non-Muslim social networks. These values focus on the importance of 'neighbourliness', inclusively, equality, fairness and social justice. This participation in non-Muslim social networks is further supported by what the participants understand to be an overlap between Islamic values and 'normal' Australian values.